


Sticky Sonata

by MillieBates



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-20 18:14:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6020059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MillieBates/pseuds/MillieBates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mathias and Lukas haven't seen each other since fifth grade when they were forced to part after a serious move. They meet again in college, and the feelings that they held for each other as children have seemed to diminish. Hopefully, they will be able to look past each others difference to see the person that they once were.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Come on Home

"Don't grab any more of that shit. Jesus Christ, man."

"It's cheap, bro. Check the price. Where else am I going to get a whole three meals for two dollars?"

"If I have to eat any more of that shit, I'm going to get fucking colon cancer or something," Mathias said, picking the box of ramen out of the cart, shaking it, and putting it back down with a grunt of disapproval. "It's sick. There is no nutrients."

"Fine, fine. Go get some apples. Since you care so much about 'health'," Alfred said with a mocking smile, shoving the cart over into Mathias' hands. Mathias pushed it over to the fruit aisle, groaning when he saw all the prices. "Fuck, man. Look at the prices right now. That's bullshit. Look what capitalism does."

"You could always have ramen."

"… I'll just do, like… a pound of apples. But none of you can touch them. Wait, bananas are super cheap. Go grab some of those."

Alfred grabbed a bundle of bananas, tossing them into the cart carelessly. "It's not like you're going to lose your games because you ate one thing of ramen, bro," he murmured to Mathias as he reclaimed the cart and shoved it towards the check-out that looked most empty. "Didn't you just have one, anyways?"

"Nah, man. Exhibition. It was Kentucky. They were alright. We still won."

"Wow. I'm pretty pumped to go to the games. People were into it last year. You guys did really good. You trying for pro?"

Mathias rubbed his neck and gave a slight shrug, eyes scanning over the candy bars and bottles of pop until he finally reached out, grabbing a chocolate bar and sliding it onto the conveyer belt. "I don't know, man. My dad wants that. I've already got scouts coming out, too. He's so thrilled about that."

"The money."

Mathias gave a laugh and took a card out of his wallet, sliding it and punching in a few numbers before saying, "Yeah, yeah, man. That would be the best part! Wouldn't have to worry."

They were both silent as they loaded the groceries onto their arms and headed for the doors. After a while, Alfred said, "You excited for pledges?"

"Hell yeah, man! But there was only six last year. I hope we get just a couple more."

"I was the only one when I pledged. Thank God you pledged after me. Don't tell the rest of them, but you're way fucking cooler, bro. Besides, you have that accent," he said, beginning to mock Mathias' accent. "Ja! Is good, is good. It's not soccer, it's futbol. Fuuuutbol."

"Aw, come on. I'd try to sound like some redneck from Texas, but I don't want anyone to think I fuck my cousin."

Alfred laughed, running a hand through his hair. "God, you're salty."

Mathias proceeded to unlock his car, pop the trunk, load the groceries up, and get in. He fixed his hair in the mirror, checked his teeth, and stopped the minute Alfred got in. "So how are you and Natalie?"

"Natalya."

"Natalya, right. She's hot, dude."

"Yeah, man! I know. Thanks. She's pretty cool."

Mathias drove, turning on the radio and turning the music up. Alfred fake head-banged and Mathias shot him a look before bursting out laughing. "You're such a dick, man."

"No, no! Rachmaninoff is my fave, bro," he said, reading the music off of Mathias' phone. Mathias glanced over, leaning to see what he was looking at.

"Just play anything on that playlist, man."

Alfred scrolled down, clicking on a track and leaning back. Mathias turned the music up, turning up the bass. "Really, man?"

"You said anything from the list."

"Haven't listened to Odd Future for a few weeks, that's all."

"What do you want, then?"

Mathias leaned back, staring blankly at the red light. "Which ever, man."

They listened to music in silence, Mathias sometimes singing along quietly while Alfred texted with his feet up on the dash. After wading through a bit of five o'clock traffic, they made their way to the campus and parked, both getting out and grabbing the grocery bags. Mathias came back after setting them down and picked up his cello case while Alfred watched. "Carry her over the threshold! For good luck."

The other laughed, holding the cello bridal style with a wink. "Like this? God, she's perfect," he said, kissing the case while Alfred rubbed his eyes.

"You're fucking weird, Mathias."

"She's my baby. The love of my life. Don't insult me in front of her," he said, carrying in the cello and taking it up to his room. "Hey, are we having a party tomorrow?"

Alfred crashed on the couch, opening his laptop. "I don't know yet. Probably. Yeah. Just really chill, though."

"You're buying the drinks, right?"

Alfred typed something into his laptop. Mathias could see it was his class schedule and he was trying to print it off. He sat down next to him, taking the laptop and working on printing it for him. Alfred murmured something under his breath and crossed his arms. "I don't know if we should be doing that shit on the first day of classes. Besides, I know how much liquor you keep in your room."

Mathias looked over at him, then turned back to the screen with a grin. "It's not like I'm the only one. I know freshmen who keep it under their bed."

Alfred smirked faintly, then said, "If you guys pitch forth some money, I'll buy a keg. Alright? I'm sure you'd find a way to buy one even if I didn't. I know I didn't buy you all that you have up in your room because there is no way in hell I'd buy you that much."

At that, Mathias shrugged and stood. "Printed the schedule off for you, man."

Alfred nodded, took his laptop back, and began clicking away again while Mathias went to the kitchen to pour himself some orange juice.

"You have practice today, bro?"

"No. I had to go in earlier, but I'm off the rest of the day. Free tomorrow, too, but I'll probably go for a jog or something."

"Maybe I'll go with you. I need to lose some weight or something. I'm getting a dad body. I'm not ready to peak yet."

"Peak?" Mathias went upstairs, grabbing the bottle of vodka he kept in his closet and coming back down. Alfred turned to face him. "Uh, yeah. Have you seriously not heard of that? It's that thing when you hit your prime physical state. You should hit it in your twenties. But I knew this steroid-pumped asshole at my old school who hit it at seventeen and he looked like someone's dad."

"Oh, shit," the other replied, pouring some vodka into his juice and swirling it around. "That's awful. You definitely should come with me! I'll do a thirty minute jog and that's it."

Alfred's face twisted while he groaned, not thrilled with the idea of doing any kind of exercise ever, but he reluctantly nodded when he looked down at his stomach and noticed a prominent roll.

* * *

"You don't like your box, do you?"

The rabbit's nose twitched and it shuffled around the cardboard box, little pieces of straw stuck to its feet. When it was lifted out and set on the bed, it just moved to the middle and stayed still, squeaking quietly.

"I have the cage but you'll have to stay in there for a bit while I set it up."

The bunny turned slightly, squeaking yet again. Lukas reached out, scooped him up, and stroked his back gently. "Mm. Just me and you, Teeny Weeny."

The dorm was empty. He didn't have a roommate yet. He might not have one until semester, but he was never that lucky. He would at least have his own room. Besides, the dorms were some of the nicest on campus. He walked out of his room and walked into his kitchen, definitely pleased to have one at all, especially one so big. The dorm was more like an apartment.

He turned to the window. It was bright out. Warm, too. The heat was coming into the living room. He would definitely have to buy curtains, preferably black curtains to block all the light and heat out. It was warmer here than it was in D.C.

It snowed in the winters on the occasion. He'd looked that up. But it never snowed a lot. Never enough to be enjoyable. But he figured that was a result of being further south. He never had to deal with terrible weather. Except maybe hurricanes. Did he have to deal with that? He needed to check.

He carried his rabbit to the couch and sat down, scrolling through his phone, texting his mother about what he was doing currently. She'd begged him to keep in touch.

It was his third year in college, but he'd switched schools. He had been at a community college in D.C., trying to improve enough to get into Duke. When Duke didn't accept him, he was a bit devastated. He wanted to go to a good school away from his parents, but not too far away. That's when he looked into his current school and applied.

Being accepted was relieving. But now he was stressed again, seeing as the first day of school was officially Tuesday. Well, tomorrow. He didn't know anyone, really. He'd moved in a couple days after what was suggested for him and he missed the welcoming events.

Not that he cared all that much. He wasn't here for friends. He was here for a good education.

He continued to pet the bunny, nuzzling his fur. He wasn't actually allowed to have pets in the dorm, but he had to sneak Teeny Weeny in. He couldn't part from him. He'd had him since he was twelve. He didn't like to talk much in public, so he talked to the rabbit more than anyone.

It was really stupid, too. He wouldn't ever tell anyone that this was who he talked to. But it was so hard to keep everything bottled up all the time, and there were some things he couldn't tell his mother, so he turned to the rabbit, who he had affectionately named Teeny Weeny upon the request of a five year old Emil.

That was especially ironic, considering Emil thought the name was dumb now. Then again, he thought everything was dumb nowadays. He was still in the phase where he thought it was cool to be constantly bitter about everything.

Lukas felt like a hypocrite. He himself was a little bitter. But he did like things. He was just very, very picky on what those things were. Like rabbits. He loved rabbits. And fairy tales. Children's stories in general.

In fact, he felt like the odd man out in college. He felt like he didn't connect. Almost like he wasn't meant for college at all. But he also felt like he didn't have much of a choice, so he always persevered through hours of studying and note taking.

He was stressed out about the entire idea of school, but he didn't want to dwell on it, so he continued to put off his never-ending stress by stroking the rabbit some more, which ultimately would result in a panic attack later when his anxiety overflowed, but he couldn't think about that right now, either.

After a while of sitting in silence, he got up again and starting unpacking more of his things. He was pretty sure he had packed a lot more than he needed. He had been having anxiety about what he would need and not need, so he ended up packing most of his room. It wasn't fun for his father, who had decided to drive him down to the university. Packing everything was a life-size game of Tetris and the loss in the end was Lukas' arms basically turning into jello after lifting heavy things.

But it was all here now. He just had to unpack, get his backpack ready to go, double-check his schedule, find a map of the campus, and he'd be set.

He put Teeny Weeny back in the box he had arrived in and gave him a piece of kale, deciding that it would be a better idea to watch his rabbit eat for a few minutes to an hour, or until he felt the motivation to actually do the things he needed to do.

* * *

The first class of the day began at nine in the morning. All of Lukas' days began at nine. He had no classes past three on any of his days. He didn't mind waking up earlier if it meant he didn't have to go to school for long past noon. Besides, he went to bed early. Waking up early was no problem.

The class he had first was math. He'd really been putting it off. He was taking a general course. The easiest one offered. His second that day was a folklore class, one he was very pleased to get into.

Both classes were short and he was glad, although he could hear a girl talking about a party in folklore.

"It's Sigma Alpha Epsilon house."

A frat party. Lukas turned his nose up a little, although he knew it probably wasn't anything like the films portrayal. They were probably alright. Although he had met frat boys before when he had worked at one of the cinemas in D.C. a couple years back. The ones he usually encountered were rude and always tried to get free beers out of him, to which he would panic and call over the manager.

Either way, he was curious. Not that he was going to go. He had school in the morning and he didn't drink, anyways. And he didn't know anyone.

Later that night, he was curled up on his couch, eating instant mashed potatoes and watching television in peace, although in the back of his head, he couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like to be just a little more outgoing. Enough to attend a party like that.

* * *

"Hey, you assholes!"

Mathias raised his cup, a laugh erupting from him as he climbed onto the coffee table, sloshing some beer onto his arm. "Natalya, c'mere!"

The blonde watched him with a raised eyebrow and a small sneer, although in her stance there was a hint of pride. "Get off the coffee table. You are so crazy, Mat."

Mathias sighed, clutching a hand over his chest and chugging the rest of his drink. He tossed the cup down, then grabbed the girls arm and pulled her up onto the table with him, wrapping an arm tightly around her waist. "Yer so fuckin' hot. HEY! Hey! Isn't she great or somethin'?"

Alfred laughed and shook his head, trying to pull him down as people watched on, some amused, some more concerned. "Hey, bro. Get off of there before you break it."

Mathias batted away Alfred's hand, leaning in to try to kiss Natalya, who was in the middle of taking pictures of herself with her phone. She shoved Mathias away with a cold scoff, then fixed her hair.

"Why won't ya just give me a little kiss?"

She shot him a look and another one of her sneers. "I don't like to be kissed on the mouth, okay? You fucking know that so just stop."

There were a few people booing in the room, but she just scoffed, yelling, "Shut up. Mind your own fucking business. Mathias, get down or I'm not touching you for a month, I swear to god."

He leaned into her face once again, this time mocking her high-pitched and cool voice, saying, "Mathias, I suh-wear to god!"

She grabbed his face, digging her nails into his cheek. "Fine. Go suck your own dick."

He moved back away from her, nearly falling off of the wobbly table for what must have been the sixth time. "Not like you'll help me, so maybe I will!"

She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it with a noise of frustration before turning to go upstairs. Mathias watched her, his shoulder slumping slightly as he looked down at his empty cup on the floor. He got a new one and refilled it, chugging a beer down as Alfred tried to make a joke about a girl he used to see.

* * *

Mathias groaned when he woke up for practice. He felt like absolute shit. He grabbed his phone and scrolled through his messages, seeing one from Natalya.

_See you for lunch. The place is nice, so don't come wearing your stupid joggers._

He frowned slightly at the message, rubbed his eyes, and reluctantly got out of bed, not thrilled at all for the events the day held.


	2. Love Will Tear Us Apart

The first week passed by quickly. Lukas had homework already that he had diligently been working on. It was Friday night, though. Everyone was out either partying or at the soccer game. He'd thought about going, but didn't like sports and knew he'd be too shy to make friends either way.

One thing he knew about was a party that was being thrown after the soccer game. He knew this because the same girl who had been discussing a frat party on Tuesday in class had been discussing the one coming up tonight.

"Are you going? You shouldn't, honestly," someone said to the girl. Lukas always knew when the other was talking because her accent was thick and her voice always made her sound angry. He had no idea what she looked like yet. He just heard her, but had never been able to point her out in class.

"It isn't my fault if Matt wants to be a dick, honestly. I should be able to go to any party I want. It's not like he owns me or something."

"But it's his fraternity," someone replied. Lukas could hear her scoff loudly and laugh, then say, "Okay, well if he wants to get any tonight, he won't pull what he pulled on Tuesday."

With that, the class was dismissed and Lukas was again unable to see the girl. But now he had the information about a party on Friday night. Not like he was going to do anything about it. He was just in his room, at his desk, working on something for a design class. He could only hear the keys clicking and he felt so alone all of a sudden.

He shook the feeling off. Tried to, at least. He heard someone laughing from his open window. Someone else laughed, too. Friends. He got up and slammed the window shut, huffing as he returned to his chair, spinning in it as he contemplated his next move.

He could always go. He would just have to stand up and walk over there. If he wanted to leave, he could leave. It was just a matter of will.

He stood up and raked his fingers through his hair, adjusting his pin and sliding some clean jeans and a shirt on. He didn't look in the mirror. He hadn't cared about his looks for a while. It wasn't like he was trying to attract anyone.

Going. I'm going.

He took a shaky breath and slapped a hand to his forehead. He suddenly felt like his head was spinning and he sat down for a moment, taking a deep breath.

No. I said I was going and I'm going.

Again he stood, putting his shoes on this time. He took controlled breaths, far too nervous about something so small. He almost considered taking Teeny Weeny with him. He was a good sized rabbit, but he could fit in a hoodie.

No. They'll think you're weird, he thought.

He sort of nodded at the bunny, then left before he could convince himself to stay.

Mathias wiped a thick layer of sweat off of his forehead and climbed up into the bleachers with a wide, cheerful grin. The crowd was cheering and patting him on the back. He was used to it all. He saw Natalya and tried to pull her closer, but she just shook her head with a raised eyebrow and gestured at how sweaty he was. "No. Clean up first, Mat."

He just looked at her for a second before turning back to the crowd, letting a few girls hug him and one take a selfie with him that he wasn't sure about. Either way, the attention felt alright. He definitely wasn't going to deny it.

"Hey, man! You ready for the after party?" He asked Alfred, who was laughing and pulling him into a quick hug.

"Yeah! I'm so fucking pumped. You guys practically raped 'em. Come on, bro." Alfred had already put his arm around Mathias' neck, but the other just removed it with a grin and walked towards the locker room to change and put his equipment away.

Once he arrived to the party, it was in full swing. The entire team was slowly arriving and everyone was in a good mood from the victory. Mathias looked for Natalya, but didn't see her anywhere and went into the kitchen, watching as Alfred sloppily poured him a few shots.

"Hey, you see Natalya?"

Alfred looked around, taking off his glasses for a moment. "No, dude. I saw her earlier. She's around here somewhere."

Mathias gave a small shrug, then downed two of the shots, almost coughing at the burn. He hadn't done shots in a while and Alfred could tell and was laughing at him. "You're acting like such a pussy! Can't hold your liquor?"

The other just shot him a look and grabbed the bottle, drinking straight from it for a good four gulps before slamming it down and looking back at everyone at the party. "Fuck you, Alfred," he spat out with a cocky grin. He closed his eyes for a second and wiped the sweat off of his neck, then made the rounds to talk to different people.

Lukas wasn't used to this at all. He didn't even want to go inside. But he had walked over and he didn't want to turn back quite yet. He was pretty sure he was shivering because he was so nervous, but there was no way he was going to let anyone that.

He stepped up to the door, opening it and walking in. The first thing he noticed was the scent. All he could smell was liquor, cologne, and something that reminded him of fresh paint. He walked in further, not sure of what to do. He didn't drink, so what was the point? He didn't smoke either. He felt so terribly out of place and decided to just people watch for a moment.

His mother would have called this some kind of weird adventure. "It's a new experience!" He let out a quiet sigh and looked to the kitchen, just to see what was in that room. He could see some guy with glasses on and another in front of him, although he was turned and Lukas couldn't see his face at all, just his soccer jersey. His number was five.

Lukas looked away. There was a man rubbing a woman's thigh and it was making him a lot uncomfortable. They were on the wall next to him and he was on the move yet again, trying to escape all kinds of people now.

He walked closer to the kitchen where there seemed to be less people. He continued to watch how everyone interacted until he felt alone again. He figured twenty minutes was plenty of time to be somewhere like this. He turned to go, but ran right into a man, who in turn spilled his drink on a girl he had been chatting with. Lukas' eyes widened and he muttered a quick, "I'm sorry."

The man gave him a dirty look and said, "Be more careful. Goddamn. Who the hell are you, anyways?"

Lukas swallowed hard and said, "I'm, uh…"

"Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you, anyways?"

Lukas looked desperately at the door, not wanting any sort of confrontation. He just held up his hands and started to back away, but by backing away, he ran into someone else. He tried to turn around but there was a hand on his shoulder and he stayed in place.

"Why are you actin' like such a fuckin' prick? Is it to make up for your lack thereof, dumbshit?"

At first, Lukas thought the man behind him was speaking to him, but the other started arguing back. "Shit, man. Hey, I'm just trying to stand up for Amy. I don't think this guy even goes here. Just think he was looking for a good time."

"So?"

"Come on, man. We don't even know who this guy is. Could be an asshole."

"Well, yeah, guess 'e could be. But you for SURE are an' we still let ya in, don' we?"

The man just shrugged and mumbled something under his breath. The girl he was with grabbed ahold of his arm and glared at Lukas and whoever was standing behind him, then dragged off the man, much to Lukas' relief. "Thanks," he said quietly, shrugging the hand off his shoulder and moving towards the door.

"Wait! What's yer name, huh?"

Lukas froze in place, then turned around just slightly, still not looking at the man. "Lukas," he said. With that, he left without another word.

Alfred walked over to Mathias, who was staring at the door still. "Who was that, bro? What happened just now?"

Mathias smirked and shook his head. "I don' know, Alfred. Some guy. I think he said his name was Lewis or somethin'. Some dick was treatin' him bad. Think he spilled a drink on his girlfriend. But still. 'S jus' a drink."

"I've never seen that guy either, though. The one you were standing up for."

"Freshman?"

"Seems like it."

Mathias leaned against the counter, shrugging. "Didn't get a good look at 'em, though. Jus' blond hair. Look like he hasn't been in the sun in a while. Gotta ask for a name when I'm sober."

Lukas wrapped himself up in a big blanket and curled up on the bed, swearing under his breath about how awkward that entire thing had been for him. He slid his phone out of his pocket and opened up a game, playing it to take his mind off of the party.

He had the urge to rip his own heart out. He felt so idiotic and out of place. "Dammit!" He let out a frustrated growl and buried his face into his pillow. He had made so many mistakes. Showing up. Running into that man. Backing up into another one. But then again, that one was helpful. He really should have gotten his name. He supposed that was just another thing he messed up on.

He tried to stop thinking about it. He was sure it did no good. But that was his chance at a friend and he blew it.

Or did he? Maybe he could narrow it down to who it was. The voice was deep. He sounded taller than Lukas. Plus, the man in front of him had been looking up at the man behind him, more proof of height. He had sounded drunk, so maybe he partied a lot. Maybe he attended every party at that house. He also had an accent. Well, Lukas thought he did. He was slurring and it was tricky to tell at times.

It seemed either German or Danish. Maybe Polish. Northern Europe for sure. What if he's from Norway? Lukas' eyes brightened at the thought. He hadn't met someone from Norway in a while. That would really be something.

But on the other hand, who said he was a good guy? Yeah, he stood up for Lukas, but there was probably a reason behind it besides simply being a good person. He was probably showing off for some girl.

Maybe it was best that he stayed alone. He had been mostly alone throughout middle school. He had a few acquaintances in high school. He knew absolutely no one at his community college. So why should it be any different here?

You're here for an education. You have time to be social later, he told himself. He had thought for a moment about trying to find the man who had helped him, but now, it seemed absolutely pointless.

Maybe he could make a friend online. Just so that he'd have someone else to share thoughts with at least. That way, he wouldn't have to go out for anything else but classes.

The thought was too good to work. He knew he needed to go out more and he also knew it would make him feel so much better if he did the right things, but he didn't know what those things were. He hated sports. He hated big crowds.

He loved music, though, and he loved art. He was sure there was something he could do with either of those things that was at least semi-social.

"Hello, Lukas! How are you?"

"I'm fine, mama."

"How is school? Have you done anything fun?"

"School is school. And I went out last night. It was… interesting."

There was a pause, then his mother said, "You're sure you're going out? It's important to be social and I know how you are! Is there any romance brewing?"

"There never is. You know that."

She laughed and said, "I know, I know. I'm only teasing! Make good friends. I love you!"

"I love you, too, mama. Tell dad I said hi. And tell Emil to stop posting so many memes on Instagram," he said with a small smile. He could hear his mother laughing on the other end.

"Alright, I'll tell them! Have a good weekend, okay? Bye!"

"You, too, mama. Bye."

With that, he hung up and resumed his position on his bed.

Mathias sunk further into the freezing water, taking deep breaths as he tried to further relax. His head was pounding and he had been wearing sunglasses all day until now, so the lights were burning. He shut them, fidgeting in the water for a moment. The cold was killing him. It normally didn't, but today it felt like hell. When the timer was up, he stood up and grabbed a towel, muttering, "Fuck" over and over again as he dried himself off. He didn't know how much longer he had to stay, but he hoped it wasn't long. He needed to go back to the house and practice his cello. He practiced nearly every day and took orchestra as well.

How could he not? Of course he dedicated himself to soccer because it came so naturally, but he loved music more than that. But music couldn't make him millions of dollars in a heartbeat like soccer could. He didn't have a scout coming to see his "orchestra" matches. People didn't yell his name with grins on their faces while he was raking his finger over a cello.

It was a pleasure that he felt alone. A satisfaction that nobody else was aware of. The ability to create music was soothing. He didn't feel so useless when he was holding a bow and the instrument between his legs. There was no pressure of scoring. No pressure of time running out.

After he got dressed, he put his headphones on and left. When he was finally in his room, he relaxed completely and grabbed his cello, adjusting it and doing a quick warm up before playing slowly, leaning his head down sleepily. His back ached and the conditioning coach would be telling him to sit up, but she wasn't here right now and he just shut his eyes, listening to the vibrations coming from the wooden body in his hold.

He would have liked to stay like that, but instead, he took out his music and ran through it until he could hear everyone in the house complaining.


End file.
